HOW TO FIX A HOLE IN VINYL SIDING| 10 Steps to Follow

Fixing a small hole or even a slightly larger hole in your vinyl siding is easy for you to repair. If not treated immediately, it can lead to greater damage in the coming time.

Vinyl siding is the exterior finishing layer for the protection of homes. Polyvinyl chloride along with other elements impart colors to vinyl siding. It is durable for the home’s exterior. If you have encountered a hole in vinyl siding, it shows that your protection for your home is becoming weak and insects, moisture, and dirt can enter your home every time. You should have an urge to see how can you effectively repair your home’s vinyl siding.

 EQUIPMENT:

Perfect vinyl siding repair tools is needed to set out your issue of vinyl siding. Repair kit includes:

• Siding Cleaner
• A Caulk 
• Caulk Gun
• Caulk Trimmer
• Scrap Siding
• Utility Knife 
• Rag

  Step 1: HOLE SIZE

Repair of vinyl siding needs an assessment of hole size. Small hole size requires few days to repair completely whereas larger holes need more vigilance and time to come back to the original structure. Larger holes also involve more repairing material than smaller ones. 

  Step 2: CLEANING

A siding cleaner is used to clean the damaged area. If you don’t have one, simply use soap and water and clean the damaged area by soaking a sponge in soap-mixed water. If you are observing mold development, use vinegar, salt, and water solution to clean your infected area. A rag is also an important tool in removing dirt and debris from vinyl siding.

 Step 3: DRY OUT

After cleaning, let the damp area dry. You can dry it under sunlight or use a blowers for quick dry out. Dry out step is important because caulk cannot fix well on a wet surface.

 Step 4: COLOR MATCHING CAULK

Until you don’t want to give your home an abstract look, color matching of caulk is necessary to fix the scrap siding into a hole.  Caulk is used to fixing wear and tear and cover joints and leakage. For exteriors, we use rubber-butyl caulk due to its high sturdiness. This caulk is specialized for its tendency to bear every change in thermostat and harsh weather conditions. So, it is a good investment.

 Step 5: FILLING SPACE

For small holes, caulking material is used to fill up space. It is incorporated by using a Caulk gun. For big holes, this process is modified. Space is filled with attentiveness to make sure that no damage is seen and the hole is completely blocked.

 Step 6: SCRAPE PIECE FOR BIG HOLES

A scrape piece is purchased for big holes as only caulk material is not enough to fill it. For this purpose, utility knives and shears are used to cut the scrape siding after measuring the hole size. The utility knife is different from normal knives. It is not everyone’s cup of tea to use it. It has a sharp replaceable blade for an accurate cutting of scrape.

 Step 7: TEST THE PATCH

Do not fix the patch with caulking material without testing it. Place it on the damaged area and examine if it is sealing and covering the hole effectively. After complete satisfaction, fix it with the help of caulking material.

 Step 8: PATCH TRIMMER

If your patch is not adjusting in the hole and it has irregular sides, use a trimmer to make all sides even so that your patch fixes perfectly.

 Step 9: CAULK TRIMMER

If you have used caulk to seal small holes or fix patches on larger holes, you need a caulk trimmer to make it look even. After sealing joints with caulking material, it is never leveled. You can observe pits and bumps on it. These siding services are important to learn for emergencies. 

 Step 10:DRY THE CAULK

It depends on the size of the hole and the amount of caulk applied that how much time will it take to dry. In most situations, it takes almost 24 hours. After drying the caulk, you can observe extra caulk spillage. Remove it with the help of a caulk cleaner. There are some cases where you have to paint the caulk once again. It happens because the color of caulk can vary a bit after drying out.  For exact similarity, painting is the only option.

FINAL WORDS:

Concluding the discussion, repairing holes in vinyl siding is a simple task to do but needs the care to handle the equipment. You may make an error once but practicing it will make you master it. Observe if anyone in your friends and family can perform this task on their own. Take guidance from them. Ask for budget-friendly tools. Borrow from them if they have spare ones. Show guts to resolve issues of vinyl siding on your own. If the damage is at a larger scale and you think it a need to replace your vinyl siding, don’t do it yourself but hire professionals for this task.